This invention relates to an integrated circuit structure having a plurality of inductors arranged so that different pairs of inductors are electrically coupled to one another. More particularly, this invention relates to an integrated circuit structure in which at least three inductors are fabricated adjacent one another in a well in the structure. This invention also relates to power splitters and combiners using such coupled inductors.
It is known that inductors can be formed on the surface of a semiconductor substrate, and that one individual inductor can be coupled to another individual inductor. It is also known that such a coupled pair of inductors can be used as a transformer in, among other things, an RF circuit in which signals must be added or subtracted to perform signal processing and/or modulation/demodulation techniques. However, the coupling coefficient, k, and the quality factor, Q, of such a coupled pair of inductors has been relatively low, and multiple coupled pairs have been required to perform the aforementioned additions and subtractions.
It would be desirable to be able to provide, on semiconductor devices, coupled inductors with high coupling coefficients and quality factors. It would further be desirable to be able to provide a way to efficiently add or subtract RF or other time-varying signals in a semiconductor circuit.
In accordance with the present invention, three or more spiral inductors are formed in a well on a semiconductor substrate. Preferably, the inductors are aligned one above the other, most preferably with a common central axis. This arrangement provides coupling coefficients, between adjacent inductors, which may be as high as 0.8 or 0.9. Although there is some coupling between all pairs of inductors, non-adjacent inductors may be considered to effectively be shielded from one another by any intervening inductors, and therefore that coupling can be ignored as, at most, a second-order effect.
In the preferred three-inductor case, if two time-varying current signals such as RF signals (or any other non-steady-state signals) are input into the two outer inductors, a time-varying voltage signal will be output on the center inductor that is proportional to the sum or difference, depending on the relative polarities (this is actually a case of signed addition), of those two signals. This assumes the same number of turns in each spiral inductor. If the number of turns is varied, a signal proportional to a sum (or difference of multiples (or fractions) of those two signals may be obtained. Either way, the output current will be a function of the output load.
Similarly, in the preferred three-inductor case, if a time-varying current signal such as an RF signal (or any other non-steady-state signal) is input into the center inductor, the output signal will be split between the two outer inductors. Assuming the same number of turns in each spiral inductor, the voltage waveform of each output signal will be the same, while the currents in the two output signals will be functions of the output loads. If the number of turns is varied, each of the output voltage signals on the outer inductors will be proportional to a multiple (or fraction) of the input signal current. The output currents will depend on the output loads.